Online casinos are totally dependent on the casino software

Much has been written about how the industrial revolution changed the lives of ordinary people but we are now actually living through another technological revolution with equally widespread effects. The development of computer technology has been so remarkable that within our lifetime many of us will have seen them go from filling a room to a desk top and now of course to fitting inside our mobile phones. This technology together with the internet has totally changed our ability to communicate with one another wherever we are in the world, and to access information both true and false, but we should also remember that none of it would be possible without the software that makes it work. Every piece of equipment which relies on computer technology also needs some form of operating software. Every interactive internet site also relies totally on efficient software to achieve its objective, and that includes all the online casino sites we so enjoy. In fact the online casino software has an even more important role to play than most other forms of operating software used by internet sites because the casino software designers are also responsible for the design and supply of most of the casino games featured on those sites. Every internet retail site dealing directly with the public must have a secure and effective operating system to handle the online financial transactions and protect their customers’ personal data. Exactly the same requirement also clearly applies to any online casino site, but that is where the similarity between these two forms of internet site ends. An online retailer only requires the software to showcase the product as attractively as possible, whereas the online casino site operator needs the casino software supplier to actually supply the product itself, namely the casino games. That is why the casino software companies have become so important in the online casino sector and why a few have become so dominant in the market. The casino games we can play at an online casino generally fall into two categories. First we have the traditional casino games such as roulette and blackjack, which do not require any design input from the casino software suppliers and simply need to be displayed clearly and attractively in much the same way as any product on an internet retail site. Then we have the slots games which now form the vast majority of the casino games on almost every online casino site. It is in the slots games where the input of the casino software designers is most apparent and indeed absolutely vital to the success of any online casino site.

The biggest and probably the most influential casino software company is Playtech. Founded in 1999 in Estonia, Playtech started to supply online casino software in 2001. In 2003 they were also the first to introduce a live casino option with casino games such as roulette being streamed from a remote studio using real dealers. PLaytech also introduced their specialist online bingo platform in 2003, followed by their online poker site the following year, but it was in 2008 that their fortunes really began to take off. That was the year that they signed an agreement with Paramount Digital Entertainment which allowed them to feature well known characters from films made by Paramount Pictures on their slots games. A similar deal with Marvel Entertainment the following year reinforced their dominant position in the slots games scene because it enabled them to also use famous comic book characters in those games. Playtech casino software is still used by a number of big online casino operators including William Hill, Betfred and more recently Ladbrokes, al of which feature slots games supplied by Playtech.

The most popular online casino in Ireland is of course the Paddy Power casino. Paddy Power chose to use casino software supplied by a company called Wagerworks, which was originally a subsidiary of the slot machine manufacturer Silicon Gaming but is now an independent company concentrating solely on the online casino software sector. The cooperation with Wagerworks has proved to be extremely successful for Paddy Power and many of their slots games are still exclusive to their site. During the early days of online casinos when most of them were operated by the big bookmakers in conjunction with their online sports gambling sites, the most common attitude towards sourcing the necessary casino software was to use just one company to supply both the operating software and the casino slots games. That certainly applied to most of the online casinos which featured on our recommended list during those early years, and that approach certainly helped to establish some of the more popular casino software companies. The Canadian software company Chartwell for example has developed into a major casino software supplier with employees all over the world. More recently they have also signed a licensing agreement with the leading betting exchange company Betfair, but as far as online casinos accessible here in Ireland the Bwin casino is where you will find Chartwell software and slots games.

Many of the more recent specialist online casinos to become available to us here in Ireland have however moved away from the idea of featuring casino slots games from just one major casino software company, and now offer a range of games from several different suppliers. This has given us access to slots games supplied by a number of different casino software companies, including for instance Microgaming. In fact Microgaming is one of the oldest casino software companies having developed their first online casino software as far back as 1994. They were instrumental in enabling many of the traditional casino games such as blackjack, roulette and craps to be played online and by 2002 were able to offer over a hundred slots games including the progressive jackpot game ‘Major Millions’ which enabled one lucky player to be the first to win $ 1,500,000. If you are a slots games enthusiast and enjoy playing them online then it is the casino software designers you need to thank for their skill and imagination.